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Large Company Services
Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP has developed a diverse array of technical service capabilities designed to address a broad range of needs within the large corporate business sector in our region. This unique expertise provides both publicly and privately owned companies with annual revenues in excess of $200 million an excellent alternative for providers of accounting services.
In the course of providing large company profesional services, we have encountered numerous opportunities that enhance management's use of outside accountants and consultants.
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A Sample of Our Large Company Services: |
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(Click on a topic to learn more) |
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Corporate Tax Planning & Compliance
Effective and proactive corporate tax planning does not need to be overly aggressive to be effective. It does, however, require an intimate understanding of your company and the applicable tax laws. By garnering a complete understanding of your long-term goals and expectations, the professionals at Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP can develop a strategy for your business that is thoughtful, concise, effective, and most importantly, in accordance with minimization opportunities under the tax law.
We have identified tax planning opportunities that have saved our clients, literally, millions of dollars. Our highly-experienced tax professionals will assist you and your company in developing a plan that will ensure you are taking advantage of all available tax minimization strategies. Moreover, we will assist with implementation of our tax planning recommendations to make certain that the results are quantified and measurable. Such a process will provide confidence that you have a carefully structured plan that works for you, your company and your equity owners.
At Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP, we view tax compliance services as a critical component of corporate well being. Numerous regional companies have elected to outsource this important function to our firm. A strong technical knowledge of the tax rules, in addition to a “roll up the shirt sleeves” approach by senior engagement team members, ensures that your tax returns are complete, accurate and in the best position to withstand tax authority challenge.
The complexity of the United States Internal Revenue Code has reached an all time high. In addition to these federal rules are a myriad of state and local governmental taxes, including income, franchise, business privilege, and sales and use taxes. In an environment of aggressive tax authority challenges, proper preparation of company tax filings is critical to the success of optimizing a company’s tax position and preserving cash flows otherwise expended for the payment of taxes.
Executive Tax Planning and Compliance
Executive compensation issues have been front-page news. Unfortunately, the news has not always been good. The implications of these national issues should be of critical concern to you, your Audit Committee and your executive team. In today’s business climate, executives are being highly scrutinized and have fiduciary responsible for virtually every business decision made. Due to recent statutory changes, large corporate human resources departments have engaged our firm as independent consultants to work with them and/or their corporate executives on a variety of different tax planning and compliance projects.
At Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP, we understand the special financial planning issues faced by corporate executives. Our multidisciplinary approach to executive financial planning services ensures that these issues are covered in a comprehensive manner.
We provide tax planning and compliance services to executives of large corporations to ensure that they have selected the appropriate alternatives given their unique tax situations. In addition to tax return preparation, our services include individual tax planning, analysis of 401(k) plans, pension alternatives and insurance planning. We will work with your executives to identify the most advantageous options available, to make certain that their financial and tax needs are satisfied, and that the ultimate goals of wealth enhancement and preservation are met.
Benefit Plan Audits
It is often advantageous to segregate employee benefit plan audit services from the corporate audit services provided by “Big Four” firms. Cost considerations, as well as a more direct focus on the plans, make this an area for consideration in selection of service providers.
Plans are continuing to receive increased scrutiny from monitoring agencies. Accordingly, the selection of auditors requires careful consideration, taking into account the independence, expertise and capabilities of the firm. Benefit plan audits must be given the highest priority to reduce the very real risks facing fiduciaries.
Our plan audits focus primarily on ensuring that the participants are being properly handled by the plans, and that contributions are being appropriately remitted. Additionally, while such audits do not guarantee that all ERISA compliance problems will be detected, we do test compliance with the provisions of the plan and ERISA. In doing so, any problems identified will be promptly brought to the sponsor’s attention to minimize the consequences of noncompliance.
The professionals at Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP have an in-depth understanding of employee benefit plans. This experience provides engagement team leadership that is well-suited to meet the challenges and issues, as well as effect a smooth and efficient transition from your present provider.
Services to Subsidiaries
During the course of our firm’s history, we have provided significant audit, tax and other services to subsidiaries of larger corporations. Often, our firm is engaged to perform these services because of our expertise in an industry, our proximity to the subsidiary, and the reasonable cost of our services. Many of the parent companies are foreign domiciled or incorporated entities that require services in the United States. We have served companies that are headquartered in Austria, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland and Israel.
From an assurance perspective, our services have encompassed audits performed in accordance with U.S. generally accepted auditing standards to comply with local and/or international reporting requirements. This is often supplemented by the completion of reporting packages that are required to capture information for parent company reporting requirements. Services have also included specific agreed-upon procedures related to the purchase or sale of companies or divisions.
Our firm is also adept at assisting foreign-owned companies in understanding tax filing requirements at both the federal and state levels. Our expertise in these areas has enabled us to assist these companies with tax planning matters, taking into consideration the overall tax structure of a consolidated group of companies.
We also offer various consulting capabilities to address our clients’ most pressing needs.
Tax Provision Services - ASC 740
Accounting Standards Codification 740 ("ASC 740") is a comprehensive pronouncement that provides guidance on most aspects of accounting for income taxes. Many larger companies seek outside assistance with the development and disclosure of their income tax provision and deferred tax assets and liabilities. Often we are also asked to assist with drafting the disclosures for the quarterly and annual SEC filings.
Further, public companies may find that their principal auditors are not able to assist in this area due to independence requirements. Accordingly, an increasing number of larger companies turn to Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP for quarterly and year-end ASC 740 services.
Our firm works closely with corporate management and the auditors to ensure that all planning, process documentation, computational and disclosure requirements are met. We typically develop the working papers to conform to specific audit firm requirements.
An executive summary is prepared to address salient aspects of the tax provision and related financial statement disclosures, including:
- Federal and state tax provisions
- Analysis of deferred tax assets and libilities
- Effects of operating loss carrybacks and carryforwards
- Any applicable valuation allowances and changes threto
- Detailed effective tax rate reconciliation
- Other relevant information
Acquisition and Divestiture Assistance
Over the last decade, the professionals at Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP have assisted our clients with numerous divestitures and the evaluation, investigation and assimilation of numerous acquisitions. Accordingly, a number of larger companies seek our assistance when structuring a corporate transaction.
Properly structuring a corporate transaction can be a very difficult, time-consuming endeavor. It is critical that any transaction be structured in a way that meets your financial needs and expectations and, at the same time, makes sense from a tax perspective. These objectives cannot be accomplished unless your advisory team understands your business needs and your long-term goals as well as the tax law. A thorough understanding and focus on each of these criteria is necessary to ensure that the best possible plan structure is established.
When evaluating potential acquisitions, we often work closely with our clients and their attorneys to:
- Conduct financial fact finding
- Assist in the development of a preliminary estimate of value
- Discuss likely financing structures and costs
- Consider desirable organizational and tax structures
Based on the anticipated key elements of a transaction, we collaborate with management to craft focused financial due diligence procedures. Often performed as agreed-upon procedures engagements, we focus on factors that are most important in the deal.
Following a successful closing, our services often include:
- Assistance with the purchase price allocation for GAAP and tax purposes
- Valuation of intangible assets
- Follow-through of predetermined tax strategies
- Post closing dispute resolution
When it comes to transactional issues, experience counts, and Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP has the experience to lead you down the right path.
Special Projects and Agreed-Upon Procedures Engagements
With the focus on lean staffing, larger companies sometimes face insufficient internal capacity to complete special projects. Further, companies may find that they occasionally need expertise beyond what is available in their organizations, or they may want to engage a firm that is independent and objective in completing specific discreet assignments.
Our firm has assisted companies with a wide variety of projects including:
- Corporate business unit planning
- Analysis of tax considerations surrounding certain transactions/entities
- Analysis of impact of acquisitions on financial and tax reporting
Our expertise has also enabled us to work with companies in performing targeted projects in which we tailor our services under agreed-upon procedures engagements aimed at gathering information to assist management. These projects have involved matters such as:
- Acquisition due diligence
- Evaluation of business unit’s/investee’s financial reporting practices
- Analysis of methodologies for billing services by a corporate office/parent company to its business units or subsidiaries
- Evaluation of billing practices and methods focusing on opportunities for improved billing and collection practices
The experience and expertise of our professional service team brings value to these often complex assignments.
Valuation Services
Issues of value pose complex and continual challenges to sophisticated business entities on numerous fronts. The Business Valuation Services Group at Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP is comprised of highly-skilled and experienced individuals who have addressed a wide variety of valuation issues for large clients.
Examples of these services include:
- Accounting-Based Valuations
We have been involved with our clients’ purchase price allocations, the identification and quantification of intangible assets and the subsequent measurement of specific asset and goodwill impairment. In addition, because the Sarbanes-Oxley Act prevents firms from preparing valuations for those clients for whom they provide attest services, we have worked cooperatively with accounting firms of regional and national prominence, in preparing independent business valuations for a wide array of financial reporting applications.
- Fairness Opinions
Whether an acquisition or divestiture is being planned or consideration is being accorded to a recapitalization, an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or a leveraged buyout, our fairness opinions will include financial, industry and economic analysis second to none. We also prepare fairness opinions for related party transactions and exchange transactions.
- Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures
A key element in buying or selling a business is that you only get to do it once. If you pay too much or sell for too little, the ability to recoup the difference is gone forever. Understanding value in entering a transaction to merge, acquire or dispose of a business or a business interest is critical to transaction services.
Information Technology
Our Technology Services Group has the expertise to assist clients in selecting, implementing and supporting integrated accounting and management information systems. The combination of our accounting skills, philosophy of understanding your business, and extensive experience with a broad range of accounting and manufacturing systems, sets us apart from other accounting software providers and consultants.
For larger companies, our services may include:
- Assistance with implementation of systems specific to particular business units or subsidiaries
- Assistance with the design of interfaces between various applications and/or business units
- Project management assistance related to system conversions
Each client’s requirements and understanding of computer systems is different. Our firm recognizes these differences and strives to serve the specific needs of our customers by individually tailoring our services and approach. We further believe that an evaluation of any new information system should include an assessment of the project’s return on investment.
Our first priority is to listen to your concerns, evaluate the staff’s experience with computers and understand the expectations for the new system. Only then can we develop costeffective solutions that satisfy your technology needs and further the goals of your business.
Following the implementation, our Technology Services Group is available for telephone, remote and on-site assistance. We work closely with you and the software publisher to ensure that you receive the appropriate level of support.
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Our success in serving these needs for large companies is based on our commitment to dedicating highly-experienced professionals to all aspects of these projects. This focus, in addition to low staff turnover and competitive pricing, enables our firm to work with some of our region's top corporations.
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